A Nation's Heart Beat

As he departs on his second phase of tour to rural Gambia, opposition leader Ousainou Darboe has told Gambia’s donor community that assisting a failing government is tantamount prolonging the difficult climate Gambians are trapped in.

Opposition leader Ousainou Darboe has been trumpeting democratic change for twenty years without relenting

Mr Darboe said that the alarming rate at which the Gambian economy is declining to a near collapse points to the emptiness of a government that has nothing new to offer.

“Today, the whole country is engulfed in economic hardship with no end in sight. Corruption and corrupt practices continue to be chronically synonymous to the everyday life of the Gambian government where few cabal continue to plunder the nation’s resources,” Darboe wrote on his Facebook page.

He added that “the recent move by the dictatorship to forcefully regulate the free market should serve as a warning to IMF, World Bank, ADB, IDB, EU, USAID, EDF and other donor community that “assisting a failing government is tantamount prolonging the difficult climate Gambians are trapped in.”

Farmers and difficult times

Departing for a tour of the rural Gambia

“Farmers continue to be saddled in unending abject poverty because of the government’s inability to buy farmers’ groundnut,” Darboe charged.

Pea nuts have been Gambia’s main cash crop. Majority of the country’s farming population rely on its cultivation to sustain livelihoods. The vibrancy of its sector has direct links to livelihood of the population.

“Today the president and his cabal of enablers have high jacked every facet of the economy elbowing out decent competition. Now almost the entire country felt betrayed by this dictatorship that has no interest of the Gambia at heart,” he added.